


Sentimental Value [Trapped Fic]

by TeaGirl42



Series: A Little Bit Cliché [4]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Fanfic Cliché, Friends to Lovers, Stand Alone, Trapped, Trapped in a Storeroom, fanfic tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:29:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28859607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaGirl42/pseuds/TeaGirl42
Summary: Olivia and Rafael find themselves trapped in the basement of Rafael's apartment building while sorting through his grandmother's things.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Series: A Little Bit Cliché [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106951
Comments: 12
Kudos: 62





	Sentimental Value [Trapped Fic]

**Author's Note:**

> My attempt at a 'Trapped together in ***' fic. 
> 
> Although I'm not ruling out also having a stab at the 'trapped in a tight space' version of the cliché at a later date! 😆

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon when Olivia Benson arrived at ADA Rafael Barba’s apartment building and strolled casually toward the main entrance.

Sydney Washington, the longest-serving and therefore defacto senior door-person working in the building, rushed forward when he saw her arriving and smiled broadly as he pulled open one of the wide glass doors.

“Good afternoon, Ms Benson,” he greeted Olivia warmly as he held the door for her to pass, “…and what brings a beautiful lady like you here on this lovely spring afternoon? I know you’re here to visit our Mr Barba, but I do hope it’s not about work?”

Olivia smiled at him and tilted her head in amusement. “You know what they say, Sydney, all work and no play,” she joked lightly, “…and I’ve told you before, please call me Olivia.”

“Have you come to save him from that miserable basement?” He asked.

Olivia raised her eyebrows, “Save him from _where?”_

“So can I assume that you haven’t called?” He asked with a dry smile.

Olivia shook her head and then had a sudden sinking feeling. “He has a guest?” She asked.

Sydney laughed warmly and shook his head, in fact, he was pretty sure Ms Benson was his favourite resident’s only regular guest. “He’s in the basement, beautiful lady,” he assured her, “…very much alone.” He was silently thrilled that the idea of Barba having a visitor might have bothered Olivia. “Although if you’re planning on joining him down there you will need to take a light…” He reached behind him and picked up one of the spare security flashlights from the wall near his desk, “…the light is poor down there on a good day and a bulb went last week.”

Olivia looked at the torch with bemusement. “Rafa is in the basement?” She checked again. “Doing _what_ exactly?”

Sydney’s eyes danced and he nodded toward a door labelled ‘Staff Only’. “If you’re feeling brave enough, you’re welcome to go and find out for yourself…” he suggested enticingly.

She shrugged and then walked toward the door with a small smile on her face, this was certainly not the way she'd imagined her afternoon panning out.

* * *

Olivia carefully walked down a concrete stairwell, then edged her way passed two steel trolleys piled up with boxes and equipment, finally she side-stepped a dusty old carpet cleaner as she carefully made her way along the gloomy hallway toward an open doorway casting low light across the floor.

As she approached she heard the quiet bang of something falling and smiled when it was followed with an easily recognisable, _“Jesus!”_.

She walked around the corner and found Barba. He was wearing faded jeans, an old t-shirt and worn sneakers. He lifted two boxes from one side of the room to the other and then bent to check out the handwritten labels on the side.

“Don’t tell me," Olivia asked as she leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms, “…you’re a secret hoarder? Do I need to call that TV show?” She smiled when he jumped at the unexpected sound of her voice.

Barba looked up at her and smiled broadly. _Damn._ Casual Barba was a sight to behold on any day, but casual Barba, smiling at her like that…his eyes glowing and the corners crinkling in obvious pleasure at seeing her. That was something else.

“Liv!” he put down a box and then carefully stepped over another to move closer. “What are you doing down here?”  
  
“I could ask you the same question,” Olivia said with amusement and glanced around. “Sydney said you were down here and leant me _this,”_ she explained and held up the flashlight.

Barba smiled in amusement. Old Sydney had always had a soft spot for Olivia and he’d often had to dodge pointed suggestions about how he should be making more of an effort to _‘make sure that one didn’t get away’ -_ at which point Barba would often remind him that his friend was neither a butterfly or a Sea Bass.

“So what _are_ you doing down here? It smells like a crime scene…” She asked again and arched an eyebrow.

“Long story,” he acknowledged with a slight turn up at the corner of his mouth, “… _however,_ the short version is that after my grandmother died the building management was kind enough to allow me to store some of her things in this old cleaning cupboard. However, it’s been a long time and I thought I should finally start sorting everything out and clearing some space.”

“And the cleaners have been leaving their equipment where?” She teased.

Barba rolled his eyes. “The building started using an outside cleaning firm a couple of years ago so the room was _empty,”_ he retorted dryly.

Olivia smiled a little and read between the lines. Rafael Barba could be brash and sarcastic in court, he could even be fairly labelled as arrogant and occasionally short-tempered in the workplace…however, strip all of that away and she knew that he was a genuinely good man who had never forgotten his roots. He was always polite and sociable with service staff, he knew the names of every cleaner who worked on his floor at the office (and several members of their families) and she knew for a fact that he bought expensive and _thoughtful_ gifts for all of the staff in his building every Christmas.

She was not surprised to hear that some strings had been pulled to help him out for a while.

Olivia looked around at stacks of at least forty storage boxes. “So…can I help?” She offered easily.

Barba frowned and shook his head, “I couldn’t ask you to-”

“Noah is at that birthday party I told you about during the week, he won’t be home until this evening. I honestly have nothing else to do, so unless I’m intruding or…” She faded off, suddenly realising that he might want some time alone to go through his grandmother’s personal things.

“You could never be intruding,” he assured genuinely, “…but it’s a lovely Spring afternoon, wouldn’t you rather be outside enjoying the sun?”

Olivia stepped inside the room, then turned off the flashlight and placed it down on a box. “Actually, I think I’d rather hang out here and help you. If you’re sure?”  
  
Barba shrugged and looked around at the boxes, he was a little confused why anyone would _volunteer_ to do this when it really wasn’t their problem. However, Olivia’s capacity for kindness really seemed to know no bounds and he wasn’t about to complain about having her company.

He’d honestly been putting off and dreading this task for months, but suddenly his afternoon was looking up.

Olivia stepped inside and automatically bent to shove aside a heavy box which had been blocking the doorway.

“Liv! No!” Barba gasped and then groaned as the door slid closed and clicked.

Olivia looked at the door and then back at him in confusion.

Barba laughed and ran his hand over his face. “The lock is broken on the inside,” he explained, “…that box was propping open the door.”

Her eyes widen and she quickly turned to try and reopen it. It didn’t move. Olivia looked back at Barba with a pained expression. “God, I’m so sorry.”

Barba shook his head and reached in his pocket for his cell, no signal. He looked at Olivia, who did the same and then shook her head.

“So much for helping…” She said, then closed her eyes regretfully.

“Not your fault,” he assured and shrugged. “I should have warned you.”

Olivia smiled at him gratefully. “So what do we…?”

Barba looked at the time. “There’s a shift change in three hours,” he observed and nodded hopefully. “Sydney won’t come down until then, but he said that he would definitely come by to say hello before he leaves for the day…and if he knows that you’re down here wild horses couldn’t keep him away.”

Olivia laughed softly and glanced at the door. “Three hours then?”

“Will that get you home in time for Noah?” Barba asked with concern.

Olivia smiled at him gratefully and nodded. “More than enough time, Rafa,” she assured. Then she looked around at the boxes. They weren’t going anywhere, so… “Maybe we could just get on?”

Barba nodded and lifted a box up onto a stack next to him, opening it up and looking inside.

Olivia carefully stepped across the room to join him. However, as she approached she saw another box that caught her eye. “Oh, Rafa, I want to go through _this_ one!” She said with a broad smile and reached over to collect a box labelled with a carefully scrawled ‘Rafi’.

Barba inspected at it and rolled his eyes. “Really, must we?” He asked.

“You can do whatever you like, Rafa,” Olivia assured as she opened the box with a little glee and peered inside, “…but this one is mine!”

He shrugged and turned to continue what he was doing, looking back with intrigue when he saw the joy on his friend’s face as she started to rifle through his childhood junk.

* * *

Over the next forty-five minutes, Barba kept glancing over at Olivia as she looked through several of his childhood picture books, then she read every single one of his old report cards like they were genuine page-turners before she finally sat on the floor and started to go through a shoebox of loose photographs.

“My grandfather bought a camera when I was two,” Barba explained as he finally put aside what he was doing and moved over to join her. “After that, every single moment with him seemed to be recorded for posterity.”  
  
Olivia looked up at him as he sat down next to her and she smiled. “You were extremely cute,” she told him and held up a photo of little Rafael at about 6-years-old, she assumed he was in Miami at the beach.

“I _was?”_ He joked, pretending to be offended.

She smiled at him and then looked at the photograph again. “I can’t honestly say that ‘cute' would be my first word to describe you these days, Rafa.”

“Some people of my acquaintance have informed me that I can be extremely endearing,” he joked and looked at her with exaggerated puppy eyes.

Olivia laughed and nudged his shoulder, “Okay, okay, sure you can…but _cute_ still wouldn’t be my first descriptor.”

Barba stopped himself from asking how she would describe him.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as Barba was ostensibly distracted by the photographs. _Absolutely fucking gorgeous,_ she thought with a small smile, or _maybe sexy as hell_...but rarely _cute,_ she concluded.

“Why did your grandmother have all this stuff?” Olivia asked, trying to focus on something else.

Barba smiled a little awkwardly and shrugged. “My place could be, well… _difficult._ I know that my mom has copies of some of this stuff now, but I guess it was probably safer for my grandparents to take care of things like this.” He picked up his report cards and flicked through them a little sadly. “I’m actually surprised that a lot of this stuff survived…”  
_  
…Survived his father,_ Olivia completed the sentence in her head and felt her eyes well with tears. Surviving your own childhood wounds makes it _so_ much harder to witness similar pain in the people you love.

“I guess we could just throw all these away…” he pondered genuinely. He couldn’t imagine sitting looking at them alone, too many bad memories connected to the good.  
  
“Don’t you dare,” Olivia said quickly, replacing the lid and twisting the box away from him. “I love these photographs, so if you don’t want them I’ll take them home with me.”  
  
Barba laughed with surprise, “You want a box full of my childhood photographs?”

Olivia frowned a little, then she reflected that while it might sound a little weird, she was more than happy to accept being thought of as strange in order to protect this little treasure trove of Rafael Barba's history. “If you’re genuinely thinking about throwing them away, then yes, I do. What if you’re president one day? These would become artefacts of national importance.”  
  
He laughed and shook his head in amusement, “And if I fail to reach those lofty heights? What if I end my days as a college professor or even a pro bono lawyer?”

“Well,” Olivia’s eyes softened as she looked at him, “…then they would be no less important to me. So you’re not allowed to throw them away.” She placed the shoebox down on the floor next to her hip, then smiled when she looked pointedly at Barba and he shrugged in agreement. Reaching over she pulled out a slightly worn looking stuffed panda. “What about this? He definitely has to stay, he was obviously well-loved.”

Barba smiled broadly and reached out to take the bear from her hands. “Luis!” He looked at the stuffed animal as though he was greeting an old friend. “I’d forgotten all about him!”

Olivia watched affectionately as he held the bear up for her and grinned, almost proudly. _Yeah, okay…_ she thought with a smile, … _he really can be cute too_. “See,” she told him, “…it’s definitely time Luis got released from this box.”

He smiled at her with amusement, “Liv, I refused to take my stuffed panda up to my apartment. I can only assume you’d expect me to sleep with him as well?”

Olivia found it insanely endearing that he referred to Luis as ‘him’ and not ‘it’. “Well, in the absence of any other offers he could be nice company for you,” she retorted dryly.

Barba glared at her and then looked at his old friend. “You were never so cruel to me, were you, Luis?”

Olivia laughed and leaned against his shoulder. “Ah, but Luis has never had to deal with Caffeine Fuelled Rafa 2.0. I know we’ve only just met, but I feel like he’s on my side.” She reached over and tapped the panda’s head gently.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Barba acknowledged wryly. He studied the bear and sighed. “He’s in quite a good condition really, it’s a shame Noah isn’t a little younger.”  
  
Olivia smiled, genuinely touched that Barba had even considered giving such a cherished item to her son. “Keep him, Rafa, please? For me? These things are important."  
  
“I’ve never thought of you as sentimental before,” Barba observed, genuinely intrigued.

She shrugged and looked around at all of his memories. They held no intrinsic financial value, but to her, they all seemed completely priceless. “I’m not…I mean…well…I don’t have much from my own childhood, but they are part of who you were, who you _are._ That means something.”

“You don’t have…?” Barba started to ask.

Olivia reached to take Luis from his hands. She almost stroked the bear and then held him against her chest. “My mother wasn’t exactly…sentimental,” she replied and smiled at him sadly.

Barba nodded, companionable silence filled the room for several long moments then he finally reached out and slipped his hand into hers. “You deserved better, Liv, so much better. You deserved a beautiful childhood filled with joy and… _boundless_ love,” he finally said softly.

She smiled and leaned against his shoulder, the last thing Olivia had wanted to do was bring them both down. “We both did, Rafa” she replied and squeezed his hand, “…but family is what we make it, and we’re doing better now, aren’t we?”  
  
He nodded, eternally grateful to God, fate, or whatever force-of-nature had brought this woman into his life. Then finally he glanced toward the box again and noticed something that he hadn’t seen before. “Now _these_ you can definitely take home for Noah,” he announced, reluctantly releasing her hand and leaning forward to pull out two vintage Lego boxes - a train and a digger.

“Rafa, these look old and they’re in wonderful condition, they might be worth something,” she cautioned as he passed them over for her to look at.

Barba smiled and put them to one side for Olivia to take when she left. “They’re toys, Liv, they’re meant to be played with.”

At that moment, Barba chose not to share with her the reason they were in such good condition. One drunken night his father had stood on a brick that his 7-year-old son had accidentally left on the floor. That night he’d received a beating so hard that he still carried a scar on his hip, and since that beating young Rafael had never felt safe playing with his precious Lego.

However, that story might be for another time, because right now all Barba wanted to do was see Olivia smile again. “You tell him they were made more than 40 years before he was born, he’ll love them,” he encouraged.

“And he’ll love them, even more, when he finds out that they are a present from his Uncle Rafa and that he used to play with them when he was his age. Thank you, Rafa,” she said softly and bestowed upon him the smile he’d been hoping for.

They were silent again for a few moments, then Barba looked at her and bit his lip. “I don’t suppose you have any food?” He asked with an expression resembling Noah’s whenever he asked for a snack.  
  
She laughed and rolled her eyes, “What was I thinking, leaving Rafael Barba trapped without food!” Olivia moved onto her knees and then reached over for her bag, looking inside and then turning to offer him a bag of Goldfish crackers.

Barba’s eyes lit up and he took the bag eagerly as she held them out. “Liv, _seriously,_ I could marry you right now.” He quickly opened the packet and emptied a handful into his mouth.

Olivia smiled and pretended not to notice the way her heart leapt at his teasing offer.

He almost bounced to his feet, looking energised already, then he ate a few more and held out the bag to offer her some as she stood.

“Are you offering me my own crackers, Rafa?” She joked. “Or should I say _Noah’s_ crackers?”

“You know I’ll buy him more, Liv, and this is a food emergency,” he informed her solemnly. Then he shrugged when she shook her head as he offered them again. “Well, I’m going to start on the books in the corner,” he told her as he munched and then walked toward the corner near the door.

Olivia looked around, then her eyes settled on a stack in the other corner. “I’ll pack up the ‘Rafa Box’, leave it by the door for when we leave, then start on the clothes.”

Barba tilted his head in agreement as he placed his snacks down carefully before he got back to work.

* * *

Just over an hour later, Olivia coughed as she placed another box of clothes near to the door for a charity donation.

“Let’s leave all this?” Barba suggested. “There’s no air down here without that door open and I can tell that the dust is bothering you.”

Olivia looked over and shrugged, then she shivered a little, it was surprisingly cold down here considering the weather was so mild outside. “I’ve really ruined your day, haven’t I?” She laughed regretfully.

“I might have achieved a little less than I had planned,” he allowed, “…but seeing you could never ruin my day.”

Olivia arched an eyebrow and Barba laughed.

“Okay,” he conceded, “…seeing you _socially_ could never ruin my day, but you do have a habit of destroying my work schedule.”

She laughed softly and watched as he moved two boxes full of hardback books against the wall and held his hand out.

“Your seat, ma’am?” Barba presented with a smile.

She stepped over to sit down, then watched Barba take a large woven blanket from a nearby box and shake it out.

“It’s not musty,” he assured. “I actually like this, I’ll take it upstairs with me _when_ we finally escape. It was made by my grandmother’s grandmother.”

“Rafa, no. It’s dirty and dusty down here,” Olivia argued, “…I really am fine.”

Barba shook his head, “It’s just a _thing,_ Liv. My grandmother would be the first to insist that my priority is making sure that you don’t freeze to death.”

Olivia reluctantly took the blanket and draped it over her, careful to keep the ends off the floor. Barba sat alongside her and she lifted the blanket over him as well.

He reached over and took her hand, then placed a small pile of Goldfish in her palm. “You need to keep your strength up,” he said dryly.

“Oh, really?” Olivia teased. “For _what_ exactly?”

He chuckled as she picked up a couple of fish and tossed them into her mouth.

They sat nibbling in silence for a few moments and then Olivia shuddered again. “I’m colder now that we’ve stopped working,” she observed. She finished off her little pile of crackers and then pulled the blanket up higher, covering her body up to her neck.

Barba tentatively moved a little closer and lifted his arm, then smiled when Olivia quickly leaned into his side as he wrapped his arm around her. “I’m sorry about this,” he said softly, “…you deserve to make the most of your day off, not be stuck in a basement freezing your ass off with me.”

Olivia made the most of the opportunity to curl into his arms a little. “Would you judge me if I said that there is nowhere else I would rather be?” She asked.

Barba laughed, “I’m not sure if that’s a reflection on your life or my excellent company.”

She smiled wryly, “Maybe a little of both?”

Barba smirked and nodded. He felt Olivia turn a little to rest her head on his shoulder.

“Bring your daughters to work day…” Olivia said softly after a couple of minutes.

Barba laughed, “God! What on earth made you think of _that?!”_

“That was the first thing you ever said to me,” Olivia explained.

“God, I know,” he laughed and stroked his hand slowly up and down her arm, “trust me, I’ve tried my best to forget.”

She smiled and closed her eyes, “I can’t honestly say that your introduction led me to imagine that you would become the best friend I’ve ever had…and the best partner.”

Barba was unbelievably moved. Uncharacteristically speechless. He wrapped his other arm around her as they shifted toward each other a little. Olivia moved her head to rest on his chest and he leaned back against a stack of boxes alongside them. He tucked the blanket up over her shoulders before resting his hands gently on her back.

“This is really nice…” Olivia said quietly after a minute.

“Once again, I’m questioning your idea of being shown a good time,” Barba teased. His voice had dropped to the level of a whisper. He could feel the corner of her mouth turn up against his chest in an answering smile.

“The location could definitely be improved, but the company couldn’t,” she assured, suddenly feeling more warm and comfortable than she could remember.

They sat there for at least ten minutes, not talking, just enjoying the moment as both silently wished to delay it’s ending for as long as possible.

Finally, Barba brought his arm up to look at the time. “Fifteen minutes and Sydney’s shift is due to end…”  
  
“He’ll definitely come down here?” Olivia asked, almost sounding sleepy.

“To see you? Undoubtedly…” Barba replied dryly. “Are you worried about Noah?”

“Noah isn’t going to be home for more than four hours, Rafa, and Claire wouldn’t just drop him at home and leave without seeing me. I’m not worried…” she assured, “…this is actually nice.”

“Nice? I-” Whatever Barba was about to say was lost when the boxes that he’d been leaning on suddenly shifted under their joint weight and caused the pile to topple.

They laughed as they landed in a heap on the floor, Barba with a _heap_ of Olivia on top of him.

Then Olivia groaned loudly when a box of books fell on top of them. Her face falling heavily against his neck as a couple of large books landed on her spine and shoulder.

Barba winced but was still chuckling a little as his hand came to rest on her back. “God, Liv, I’m so sorry…are you hurt?”

She smiled against his neck and shook her head. “I’m not going to say it didn’t hurt, but I’m not injured,” she assured.

He shoved the books frustratedly to one side and then rubbed the area of her back where he’d seen one of the books land. “Sure you’re okay?” He asked, his gaze now soft with a genuinely concerned smile.

Olivia lifted her head to look into his eyes, then braced her hands to either side of his head and pushed up. She looked down at him with an amused smirk. “I’m fine, Rafa, really…” she reiterated.

Barba’s smile faded as Olivia’s eyes drifted down to his lips.

_Silence._

“Am I reading this wrong?” Olivia finally spoke bravely and Barba was surprised to hear a slight wobble in her voice.

“Are you…?” Barba wasn’t entirely certain what she was asking and was terrified of reading this situation wrong himself, but the look in her eyes was making his heart race.

“Do you want this as badly as I do?” She asked and moved her knee so that she was basically straddling one of his thighs.

Barba started to open his mouth to speak, then recognised the fear in Olivia’s eyes and suddenly wanted nothing more than to reassure her. To reassure her that, _Oh, God yes! I feel it too!_ He reached up to run his hand down the side of her face and then slowly pressed his lips to hers.

Olivia hummed quietly, letting her weight drop against his body a little as she combed her fingers into his hair. Their kiss deepened, she closed her eyes and relaxed into his arms, groaning when she felt Barba’s hands stroke firmly up her back as his knee rose and his thigh shifted between her legs.

 _“Mmmmmm,_ Rafa…” Olivia smiled against his lips and felt her whole body react to the way his tongue moved against her own. They pulled apart for a moment and she felt his nose trace over her cheek. “Please…?” she whispered softly.

“What do you need?” He asked, his voice a little rough.

Olivia pulled up a little and looked into his eyes. “You…?” She asked quietly, still sounding slightly unsure.

Barba smiled, his eyes dancing with a little humor. How could she doubt how much he needed her?

“What?” She laughed.

“Livia, are you really sure about this?” He checked.

Olivia stared as him lovingly. “Rafa, women aren’t generally overwhelmed by the prospect of spending hours sorting through boxes, we also don’t read school reports and scour through childhood pictures…”  
  
Barba looked lost and maybe even a little hurt…he shook his head in confusion.

“I wasn’t lying, Rafa,” she continued with amusement, “…I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon.”  
  
“Now I have no idea what you’re-”

Olivia cut him off, “Rafa, I’ve enjoyed spending time with _you,_ I found your school reports fascinating because I’m fascinated by _you,_ I loved looking through your old photographs because they’re yours and I…” she swallowed hard now and then continued a little nervously, “…and I’m so in love with you.”  
  
Barba’s eyes welled with tears as the meaning behind her words and her declaration finally registered, then a broad grin spread across his face.

Her hand stroked down his chest now and she leaned to kiss him before looking back into his eyes. “If you’re not there yet, or even if you need a little time…”

 _Olivia Benson loves me,_ he thought in astonishment. Somewhere in the corner of his mind, he heard the distant echo of his father telling him that he was worthless…and then silently yelled at him to _fuck off._

Olivia laughed, “What was _that_ thought? It looked interesting.”  
  
“You are beautiful,” he replied softly and combed her hair back from her face with his fingers.

“That was _not_ what you were thinking,” Olivia rejoined.

Barba laughed, “No? Okay, how about…I love you too.”

“That wasn’t it either,” Olivia teased, “…but it will more than do.” She laughed and was about to kiss him again when they heard the latch on the door shifting. They stumbled to their feet, helping each other up, and were both standing…if looking a little flushed…when Sydney opened the door.

“Rafael, Ms Benson…” Sydney looked between the two with obvious amusement.

“Olivia,” she reminded him again and subtly attempted to straighten her clothes a little.

“Well, _Olivia…_ ” Sydney laughed softly, “…I see that you’ve been down here helping my friend out a little?”  
  
“The door…” Barba explained their situation succinctly.

Sydney smirked, then nodded and held the door open as they both got ready to leave. Olivia picked up her bag and then bent to collect her precious bounty as Barba collected the blanket from the floor.

“Wait, wait, if you’re so determined to take that up, let me?” Barba insisted. “Can you carry the blanket?”  
  
They exchanged their goods, hands brushing and eyes connecting as they did. Then Sydney moved to turn off the light and lock the door before following them down the hall.

“Thank you for rescuing us, Sydney,” Olivia said gratefully as they climbed the gloomy stairwell.

“Yes, we could’ve been stuck down there for hours,” Barba chimed in.

“That would have been a real shame,” he replied dryly and both of them caught him wink at Barba.

“Well, I do have a son to get home to,” Olivia pointed out with a smile as Sydney walked with them across the foyer and toward the elevator.

Barba selected his floor and they waited.

“Although I was thinking that we could pick up takeout on the way to mine...if you’re free?” She looked at Barba hopefully.

“So I’m invited to dinner?” He asked with an affectionate smile.

Olivia glanced at Sydney, then decided that there would be no hiding the path they were on from him anyway. “You never need an invitation, Rafa,” she assured warmly, “…and I know that Noah would love you to show him his new Lego.”

The elevator doors opened and Sydney watched them enter with a broad grin.

“It’s about time!” He called through to Barba as the doors slid closed.

Barba leaned back against the wall, the box in his hands. “He’s been in my ear about you for months,” he explained.

Olivia smiled, then leaned next to him, the blanket over her arm.

He turned his head and kissed her, smiling against her mouth and thrilled that he was suddenly allowed to do that.

“Am I rushing this if I suggest you stay at mine tonight?” She asked against his lips.

“I have work in the morning,” he replied, pulling back a little and looking into her eyes.

“So do I…” she reminded him, “…but if I remember correctly, the first thing on my Monday morning schedule is a meeting with our ADA.”  
  
Barba chuckled, “We could pick up coffee?”  
  
“We could,” she agreed, “…we _could_ also get an early night?"  
  
He moved forward and kissed her neck slowly as the doors opened. “Even better,” he agreed against her skin.

They moved apart reluctantly and began walking down the hall toward his apartment, passing by a neighbor who obviously picked up on their body language and smirked at Barba.

“When will we need to leave?” He asked as he opened his door.

Olivia looked at the time. “Couple of hours?” She confirmed, then leaned in to steal a kiss as they entered his apartment. “Wanna make out for a while?” She suggested, then laughed as Barba quickly discarded his box on a nearby table, grabbed her hand, and then finally wrapped her in his arms.

**_THE END_ **


End file.
